Heroes Wanted
by HG Rising
Summary: Previously titled: Totally Self Conscious. Rebooted. Jimmy Neutron's new in town and the pretty, popular, and deceptively confident Cindy Vortex wants to take him under her wing. JxC.
1. Chapter 1

**Heroes Wanted**

Chapter 1

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Cindy Vortex was in need of a hero.

Everything around her was fake. She would have sworn that the potted plant on her desk was fake if it hadn't started to wilt from neglect. Her friends cared only about her popularity. They would brag about coming with her to some party or sitting next to her at lunch. Her parents cared only about her grades. They would brag about raising a daughter who was not only academically gifted but athletically gifted as well.

They all wanted to use her to prove that they were better than others by association. Cindy was convinced they never truly cared about her, and that they never would.

Everything around her was fake.

But so was she.

Wake up, get dressed, and pretend that she actually gave a damn about her peers. It was draining to play the part of the popular high school queen. Smart, athletic, and beautiful. She'd be mean to the people they expected her to be mean to. Nice to those whom she was supposed to be nice to.

True, this heroine comes off like quite the bitch to some, but that was the price of her popularity. And true, she _was_ scheming and short-tempered at times. But isn't everyone the same?

To put things in perspective, her unruly side had become much less apparent since her younger years when she'd take out frustration from parental pressure on the people around her. She had figured out soon enough that acting out only resulted in more pressure from her parents to be perfect.

From then on, anger she felt was regularly hidden. Sometimes she thought the anger she felt during her childhood was good for her, at least she expressed real, _strong_ emotions then.

Cindy's only solace was her dog, Humphrey, who was getting on in his years.

He'd been with her since she was a toddler. And since then, she would tell Humphrey about all her problems. About how much she hated her friends who could never keep her trust and her parents who never bothered to connect with her. She told him how free she thought she'd be if she could just tell everybody to fuck off. That she wasn't their doll to be shown off. An accessory.

It broke her heart to know that he would be gone soon, too. Signs of aging were apparent in the way he slept during most of the day and rarely ate. She didn't think she could take it if he left her.

Cindy Vortex's greatest fear was to be left alone. She grew up craving love and acceptance from her parents and never receiving enough of it. And, despite wanting to be left alone most of the time, she hated feeling that way. It scared her. She needed the constant reassurance from others that she was mattered. That someone wanted her. She thought that the moment people discovered how imperfect she was, they'd leave her. So she continued to be the queen of the fakes, the most fake of them all.

At least she could hide and breathe for one moment before summer vacation ended. In this moment, she could take off her plastic crown without anyone seeing.

Just a lonely girl and her dog. Alone but not really alone. Alone but still wanted. And that's how she liked it.

No heroes necessary.

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**I'm going through this story again and reediting it in the hopes of restarting it. Please bear with me. There will be a lot of constant updating because there's a lot to fix. The mostly updated chapters will have the title "Heroes Wanted" on them. If you read further than that, the story might not make sense. Hopefully, it won't take years... Cheers.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Heroes Wanted**

Chapter 2

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Sasha Vortex eyed the teenagers on her doorstep critically. They were not the kind of people with whom she wanted her Cynthia associating. They looked uncouth and uneducated. She had only allowed Cindy to befriend them because it was always best to have connections for future business purposes.

"Cynthia, darling! Your-" _ugh_ "-friends are at the door!"

"Yes, mother! I'll be right there."

It was impossible for Cindy to keep track of all the parties she went to. She wondered if the other regular party attendees had ever even studied or looked at their textbooks like she did. Maybe if they did, they would realize that they needed to seriously buckle down now. As seniors, college was just around the corner. Cindy was actually pissed that she would be dragged away from her summer reading homework to go to some party thrown by some kid she probably didn't even know. Because unfortunately for her, she got invited to every little event by some social climber hoping her popularity would rub off on them.

She thought about why they wanted to be like her so badly. But then she remembered, they didn't really know what it was like to be her. _Thank you, childhood acting lessons._

She saw her 'friends' at the door and resisted rolling her eyes. Britney and Nissa. Two girls she's known since elementary school. The stereotypical blondes. Though, Cindy supposed, they could be very sweet at times when they weren't being backstabbers to other girls.

Britney saw Cindy at the foot of the stairs and exclaimed, "Cindy?! Hurry up! Nick and his friends are already at the party, and they told us to meet them there. Do you want to keep them waiting? You may have guys going after you, but we have to work for it, now hurry!"

"Yeah, Cindy. Let's go."

Cindy seriously hoped that the party would end early. The other two looked so damn excited.

Armed with a fake smile that no one ever saw through or cared ever to see through, Cindy greeted them and tried to get enthusiastic about the party.

"Sorry, my fault, Britney. I hope I didn't ruin your chances. After all, I know how hard you've worked to get Nick to finally notice you after I broke up with him a week ago." Her tone was playful, but her words were slightly cruel and taunting.

"Hey, can you blame me? Who wouldn't try to get with him? He's absolutely gorgeous."

And absolutely brainless, Cindy thought. "Me. Not again anyway. Cheater. Time and time again."

"I warned you not to be so uptight with him. He was your boyfriend for over a year, and you still didn't let him do anything."

Cindy did not want to get into explaining this again to other people when it wasn't their business. She simply wasn't ready to have sex at seventeen. The thought of it frightened her. She actually thought Nick understood, but apparently not. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just go. We're late enough, right?" she said while jumping into the back of Britney's convertible. One of the perks of being spoiled. Though Cindy wouldn't know. Her parents were well off enough, they just preferred to have Cindy work for everything. This included the regular, reliable, and non-sports car Cindy had bought through her work as a part-time tae kwon do instructor.

"Oh shit, you're right."

Nissa slid into the passenger seat. "Step on it, Britney! We've got some boy-hunting to go on."

Cindy expertly stayed quiet during the car ride, not wanting to contribute more than necessary to conversations about boys or kissing methods. This gave her time to inspect her surroundings.

Upon closer inspection, she realized that the houses looked fairly familiar. When she remembered why it looked familiar, she swore. She really ought to have known exactly _who _was throwing the party. _Betty Quinlan, we meet again._

All too soon, Britney stopped the car, and the girls stepped out. Betty stood by the door, ready to greet them. Cindy groaned slightly. Betty just had to try to be the perfect host and personally greet all of the party goers.

Spotting Britney and Nissa, Betty smiled and waved enthusiastically for them to enter. Spotting Cindy, her smile faltered but never left her face less the hatred be publicly known. "Hey, Cindy."

"Hello, Quinlan." Cindy bumped pass Betty purposefully knowing Betty had to take it silently.

As if by some innate force inside held deep within them, Betty and Cindy never got along well. Like with Britney and Nissa, Cindy knew Betty in elementary school as well. They always clashed whether it be on the sports field or in class. Cindy's dominance over Betty did little to stop Betty from challenging her. Their quiet feud was never quite openly acknowledged by either parties or known by the populace. Therefore, it was with great sorrow that Cindy realized that she could never be outwardly cruel to Betty, and Betty realized the same. Neither knew what would happen to them if the others found out.

"Is that Cindy?" Some faceless classmate pointed at her while Britney and Nissa stared jealously at Cindy. Neither of them ever got pointed out like that.

"Cindy's here, cool, finally." Another faceless classmate.

"What's up, Cindy? I was waiting all night for you." A boy. Cute. But still faceless.

Cindy was sure she had some class with some of the people surrounding her, but she just couldn't remember.

Not one to be outshone at her own party, Betty edged into the crowd. "It was really nice of you to come, Cindy."

Slightly annoyed at the attention she was getting from people who barely knew her, she carelessly replied, "No problem, Betty. It's not like I wouldn't come just because it's _your_ party. Even bitches can throw good parties."

Oops, did she just say that out loud?

Betty's sickeningly sweet voice raised in pitch, "Excuse me?"

Cindy fought the urge to laugh. She really shouldn't have said something like that, but it felt good. Before she could reply with another insult, Nissa pulled her to the side towards some decently cute guys. Cindy, who didn't care how cute they were if they didn't have two brain cells to rub together, just kept nodding her head while the guys were talking.

"Wow, you guys totally should."

"So the streaking is on. Awesome. Hope you're ready by the first day of school, babe."

Perhaps she should've paid more attention to the slightly intoxicated boy. "What? Of course I will. I mean, noo. Let's not… I mean, hmm… I'm thirsty, I'm going to get some punch okay? Talk later, _babe_." She hated that word. Well maybe not the word, just the way some guys said it. It made her skin crawl.

"Wait, I wanted to-"

Whatever he wanted to do, Cindy didn't care enough to find out because she was gone. Heading towards the drinks, she formed a mischievous plan.

She had a moment to smile to herself when a hand grabbed her forearm. It was Britney. "Cindy, where were you? When we got in, we totally got separated."

"Sorry, Britney. Betty wanted to do some catching up with me," she grinned at the memory, "And then Nissa made me talk to some guys over there."

"Oh okay, I guess," she was disappointed. But she was also worried that she was going to be replaced at Cindy's best friend, so she didn't press the issue further. "So What do you wanna do now?"

What Cindy really wanted to do was go home and finish the schoolwork she'd been working on before she left for the party. But. That wasn't happening now.

"Weren't you going to flirt with Nick tonight?"

"Ugh, Betty got to him before I did and demanded that he keep her company the entire night. She looked pissed."

Cindy smiled again. Well, if that was done with. That meant they could leave, and Cindy didn't have to feel too bad about breaking up Betty's party. She felt even better knowing that Betty would feel like a loser for throwing a lame party.

"I wish I was the one who pissed her off like that. She's a slut," Britney continued. "I mean, yeah. I know she was a slut for sleeping with Nick while you two were still together. But like. Now she has to be all over him again? She isn't even sorry. What's up with that? Total. Slut. "

"This party's lame anyway. Let's leave." It was more of a statement than a suggestion.

This brought Britney out of her anger for a moment, "Really? Other than the Nick, I thought it's pretty fun. There's cute boys everywhere…" Cindy's blatant look of disapproval slightly scared her, "I mean, yeah, totally lame, let's get Nissa and go."

For her plan to truly work, she had to make it known that she was leaving. Once people knew she was leaving, they'd leave too. It was ridiculous how mindlessly high school kids followed each other.

After tearing Nissa from the boy she was making out with, but didn't know the name of, they located Betty in the living room. She was sitting on Nick's lap, and Nick's eyes were slightly glazed over. Betty looked quite at ease now. Perfect. It was time to destroy that.

Cindy made sure everyone's eyes were on her and walked up to Betty. "Thanks for the party, Betty. I had fun. You should _really _do this again sometime." The sarcasm evident in her voice.

The people watching opened their eyes wide.

Betty fumed. Looking around wildly, she realized that most people heard her. "Uh..." She stammered. "Are you sure you don't want to stay? It's not even eleven yet. And you barely got here. And-"

"Yeah. I've got better things to do."

The onlookers began to murmur.

Snarling, Betty replied, "Like what? Doing homework alone on a Friday night again? Do we even have homework? It's summer."

"Yes. If you were in the more advanced classes like I am, you'd know that. And yeah, I did say better things, didn't I? Or did sleeping around somehow affect your hearing?" Some people began to snicker. Cindy had no idea why she was acting this way after so long, but she found that she didn't mind. "Oops," she giggled innocently. "You know I didn't mean that, right, Betty? Oh well. I'll see you later. Like I said. I had _tons _of fun. And bye Nick."

Nick's response came a tad late due to his inebriated state. And not knowing what had just transpired between the girl on his lap and his ex, Nick replied, "Bye, Cind."

Cindy heard him as she walked out the door with Britney and Nissa. She hated that name. There was only one person she let call her by that name. And that person lived far away, now. In a place not meant for regular means of frequent communication, either, she thought bitterly. Parents really were the bane of her existence.

Britney finally dropped Cindy off first after realizing that Cindy wouldn't explain herself at the party.

As Cindy walked up to her door, she heard Britney ask again, "You'll tell me eventually, right?"

"Totally. Goodnight." She said to get the girl to leave. She could not wait to step inside her room.

"Goodnight!" called Nissa.

"Night!" said Britney. And satisfied, Britney finally drove off.

She fumbled with her keys a bit. Dropping them in the bushes. Only when she turned around to look for her keys did she notice that the 'For Sale' sign for the house across the street from her had disappeared. Oddly enough, it was replaced by ducks.

Weird as she thought it was, she didn't investigate further, opting to just finish her homework early to enjoy the rest of her weekend. Hoping against all reason that her friends wouldn't drag her out again.

Opening the door, she missed a mechanical canine flying into the window of the room directly across her own.

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**Don't worry I didn't forget about Libby, she's just coming in the later chapters. Thanks to all the people that reviewed. I really appreciate it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Heroes Wanted**

Chapter 3

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It was Saturday morning. Cindy was lying on her bed, enjoying the sunny view her window provided. Humphrey was by her side. She lived for these moments.

She was going to miss summer. However, if she had to choose between the constant partying and hangouts, she honestly had to choose school. At least then, she could avoid people with whom she didn't have classes. ...But then again, if she didn't go to these parties or leave the house, she'd be stuck with her parents breathing down her neck.

They had gotten even stricter with her after she gave in to their forceful persuasion and promised to apply to Stanford. It wasn't even that she didn't like Stanford, she just wanted to be able to make the decision on her own. This was impossible with her parents though.

With the sun high out of view, she decided to finally leave the house. Her mother would soon be in to check up on her. Lazy students didn't get accepted to Stanford, after all. Cindy grimaced at her mother's constant nagging.

Putting on a sweatshirt, some running shorts, and her running shoes.

Outside, she sighed and started jogging down. Her eyes shut to close herself to the world around her.

"Watch out!"

Startled, her eyes fluttered open in time to see a chunk of metal flying towards her. So she did what any normal person would do. She froze and screamed. This earned her a collision with said chunk of metal.

"Are you okay?" It was the same voice as before. Cindy could tell the person was male, but not much else. The force of impact slightly disoriented her.

Without a thought to censoring herself, she replied, "What the hell hit me?"

"Well. My dog sorta just flew into you. On accident of course. Sorry." He chuckled nervously. He picked up his mechanical canine, Goddard, and offered her a hand.

"Whatever." She took his hand and stood up to face him. She finally processed what he said. "Did you just say 'flew'?"

"Yeah, actually. I just moved here from Houston, and some guys named Carl and Sheen were showing me around. They saw Goddard and wanted to see what he could do. And well. They started flying him... and lost control... so he... flew... into you..." He chuckled nervously again, realizing Cindy was not amused by his explanation. So he tried to change the subject. "I apologize for not having introduced myself. I'm Jimmy Neutron, and you are?"

"Pissed off, Neutron. You tore my sweater. But that's beside the point. How did that _thing_ fly?" She inspected the 'dog' in his arms carefully. It was made completely of inorganic materials, forged into the shape of a dog.

"Well, you see my dog, Goddard here, is a type of artificial intelligence unit that I built, and I programmed him to fly-"

"Really? You programmed him?" Cindy was more than curious now.

"Yes, really, I-"

"Jimmy! Jimmy! There you are, Jimmy. Come on, Jimmy, we gotta go. Sheen's waiting at the Candy Bar."

"What, oh, you can go on ahead, Carl. I'm apologizing to this girl here for something..." and he added, "that you and Sheen made Goddard do."

Carl recognized who Cindy was and averted his gaze to his shoes, "Sorry, Cindy. It won't happen again." He promptly ran off after apologizing. Slightly confused, Jimmy realized he had met two very peculiar people today. Three if he counted the girl in front of him. Not many people were interested in how Goddard worked. They were more interested in what Goddard could do for them.

Cindy spoke again to get Jimmy's attention. "Since I'm feeling generous today, I guess I can forgive you. The name's Cindy as you may have realized now. Cindy Vortex."

"Wait, at least let me buy you a Purple Flurp to make it up to you."

"No thanks, like I said I already forgave you."

"Alright, I guess, bye Cindy."

"See you later," she paused, "Nerdtron." She gave him a wave and a smirk, turning to walk away.

A bit confused, Jimmy turned around to see a panting Sheen walk up to him holding three ice cream cones.

"Dang, where the heck were you and Carl? We were supposed to meet up at the Candy Bar after you and Carl found your dog thing. That was over an hour ago. I finally had to order ice cream so Sam wouldn't kick me out."

"Sorry, Sheen. You know, you didn't have to buy one for me and Carl, too."

"What in the name of Ultralord are you talking about? I bought them all for me."

"... Right." He felt pity for the other boy's dentist. "Well, Carl kinda ran off after we apologized to Cindy."

"What?!" Sheen exclaimed. "Goddard hit Cindy? We're ruined. Why? Why did it have to be Cindy? In the name of all that's good and Ultralord, tell me she wasn't mad."

Jimmy was a little more than confused at this point. "No, she said she forgave me... Why are you giving me that look?"

"It must be a trap! Cindy Vortex never forgives anyone."

"What're you talking about, Sheen? She seemed nice enough."

"That's how she gets you, Jimmy." Sheen grabbed onto the front of Jimmy's shirt and pulled him close. "That's. How. She. Gets you! She may look all sweet and nice and shiny and girly. But she isn't! She's evil like. Like. Like Robofiend!"

Jimmy pulled apart from the boy and took a big step away, "Okay, Sheen... How much sugar have you had today? Are we talking about the same Cindy Vortex?"

"Yes! Blonde pony tail. Evil eyes. A fist that could knock you into a coma? Yes, Jimmy, yes!" Sheen was hysterical now. But, that was actually a reasonable reaction. Even when they were childhood friends, Sheen feared what Cindy could do to him if he stepped too far out of line. And now that their fourth childhood friend was gone, he knew that there was no one to stop Cindy from really showing him who was boss.

Sheen and Carl were one of few people who knew how Cindy could really be. Her true self was sweet and caring to those who deserved it. This was reserved for that special fourth friend. But her true self was also short-tempered and cruel. This was usually reserved for everyone else. Of course, nowadays, Cindy hid her contempt from everyone else, but Sheen still knew she was basically the same girl he was once friends with.

"Look, everything's fine. I'll make sure to apologize to her again the next time I see her. Alright?"

This did little to calm Sheen, but he reluctantly let it go anyway and nodded.

"Great. Now let's find Carl. You two still need to show me around."

The pair walked off in the opposite direction from Cindy. Glancing back, Jimmy didn't see her anymore. She must've turned a corner while Sheen was freaking out. He hoped the girl didn't hear anything. He didn't think she was as bad as Sheen had made him seem. Perhaps Sheen had caught her on a bad day and was exaggerating things.

.

"So... what you're telling me is, you're interested in him?" Britney teased Cindy while painting her nails.

After her first meeting with Jimmy, Cindy had jogged over to Britney's house. She had no idea why her legs would carry her there. And regretted it the moment Britney had spotted her and squealed for her to come up. The girls were currently up in Britney's room, and Cindy was forced to explain why her sweater was ruined.

"Yeah right, Britney. The guy had nerd written all over him. And his hair was ridiculous. It doesn't do his eyes justice at all."

"So... you liked his eyes? I thought you said you didn't really get a good look at him."

Cindy stopped looking at her nails. At this moment, she refused to realize just how much she noticed about the boy, and she refused to talk further about him.

"We stop talking about him now. Or I swear, I'll get back together with Nick."

With that, Britney shut up. Thinking to change topics to improve Cindy's mood, Britney quickly said, "I heard Betty's party was ruined after we left." Britney was actually more intuitive than people realized. She knew that Cindy enjoyed toying with Betty even though Cindy always pretended to be indifferent towards her.

Cindy was slightly amused. Innocently, she said, "Oh, really? Wonder how that happened. It was going so well."

Britney rolled her eyes. "You know why. It was because you left _after _practically bitchslapping Betty. Now that was fun to watch. You still haven't told me why you did that."

"The slut had it coming after that thing with Nick," Cindy lied. She really didn't care all too much about Nick cheating on her. Though she was irritated that he chose Betty of all people. Nick was just a way to pass time. She didn't really see herself spending her life with him.

Britney nodded in sympathy. "Well, you just _know_ our party is going to be totes better."

Holy crap. It was another party. One that she was co-hosting. Why did she agree again? Oh right, she didn't have a choice. It was a send-off party to their ending summer vacation.

Cindy thought Retroville would have been devoid of alcohol by now.

As the other girl chattered on about how "totally awesome" their party would be, Cindy's mind wandered. She wondered if she'd see the other boy again and when. She admitted that she was more than curious about him. His intelligence seemed to far surpass her, and she didn't seem to mind. Perhaps if he could best her, her parents would stop caring about how well she did when they knew it was hopeless. Maybe instead they'd start caring about her as a person...

Per usual, her more logical side chimed in. She had no idea how old he was, where he lived, and what school he went to. A boy as smart as that could be done with school!

She groaned.

"Anything wrong, Cindy?"

"Nope. Everything's just perfect. Perfect nails, perfect summer, perfect party, right?"

Britney happily agreed and continued to blather on about how she was going to decorate, whom she was going to invite.

.

"Goddard, run a check on my vitals. I must be coming down with something. I can't concentrate."

Goddard's display showed that he was at normal conditions.

Instead of calming the boy, it bothered him. He couldn't spend time being distracted; he had to rebuild his lab. His parents had given him permission to use the old clubhouse in the yard to build his lab.

Goddard, sensing his master's distress, asked him what was wrong.

"I don't know. Maybe it's just anxiety from moving. I'll be back to normal in no time... hopefully. I think a nice walk to get to know the neighborhood would help. Sheen and Carl only showed me the best places to hide from bullies and where to find the best sweets."

.

Cindy jogged back home. It was still warm at night, so she opted to just throw away the ruined sweater at Britney's house.

On the other side of the street, she saw a figure step out of what appeared to be a shack belonging to the house across from her. She figured it was the person who had just moved into the place and paid them no mind.

Unfortunately for her, her inattentiveness caused her to be knocked over yet again.

"Son of a bitch," she swore.

.

Preparing for a night stroll, Jimmy offhandedly mentioned to Goddard that he wouldn't mind seeing that girl again.

Goddard began teasing him, displaying a heart around a snapshot of Jimmy and Cindy from his recordings of earlier this morning. Jimmy reached to fix his screen, causing Goddard to fly out of his grasp and outside the entrance to the clubhouse. Not one to give up, especially when his own invention was teasing him, Jimmy bounded out the entrance, too.

Jimmy saw Goddard fly across the street and noticed another person in his path. The mechanical canine did not see the person; however, and flew straight into them.

"Son of a bitch," Jimmy heard them swear. The voice sounded familiar, which was odd since he hadn't met many people in this new hometown.

Approaching Goddard and the person he knocked over, Jimmy could make out long blonde hair in disarray. His eyes widened as he realized whom it was.

"Cindy? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know. Just thought I'd take a nap in the streets. It's such a lovely day after all. What do you think I'm doing? Your dog flew into me again."

Jimmy had the decency to look embarrassed and pulled Cindy up to stand. "I apologize, Cindy. It won't happen again. Hopefully."

Cindy eyed him wryly before speaking again, "Still haven't fixed your dog, have you?"

"Actually, he's in perfectly working order. We were just... playing?"

"Right... This would be the second time today that I'll have to forgive you for knocking me over, Neutron. I think that means, you owe me now."

"Just name it," Jimmy sincerely stated.

That made Cindy smile. It had been a long time since someone had sincerely said anything to her.

"Oh no. I want to think about this first. It's not every day I get a genius to do anything I want."

Cindy's smile caught Jimmy off guard. This Cindy was different from the Cindy that Sheen had described. This Cindy seemed playful and kind. She had forgiven him twice for injuring her after all. Other than the initial outburst, she didn't even look mad. The way she referred to him by his last name and 'Nerdtron' was curious, but it hadn't bothered him. He heard worse before from jealous peers and colleagues.

Cindy continued, "So you just moved into that house?"

"Yeah. From Houston."

"I remember. Guess we'll be neighbors then. Welcome to the neighborhood," she smiled an amused kind of smile.

"Thanks."

"I'll come by eventually to tell you what I want. But it's getting late now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Jimmy thought he'd like it here.

.

Cindy presented a composed exterior during her exchange with Jimmy, but internally, she was in a state of shock and panic. She couldn't believe that he lived across from her. Though, it made sense. New neighbors, new boy.

After stepping inside her room, she resisted squealing and rushing over her window to see him again. To check if he was indeed her new neighbor.

She was overwhelmed by emotions that were outside her normal range of sadness, contempt, and disgust.

Her thoughts were in a jumble. This was a new person. A person who wasn't using her. A person she could actually talk to. And she was excited. But, what if that person didn't want to be friends with her? After all, when was the last time she had a real friend. Not one since Libby...

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**Once again thanks to all the reviewers and readers. Please re-review the reviews are the only things that keep me going after the emotional shock from my grades.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heroes Wanted**

Chapter 4

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Her mother opened the door to her room and cast a quick glance across every surface, checking for anything out of place or didn't belong. Cindy didn't need distractions. "Cynthia, the new neighbors from across the street are here. Come downstairs with me to meet them."

Cindy looked up from her book, "Why?" She tried her best to look disinterested and secretly wondered if Jimmy came too.

"We must be polite, Cynthia. They're new, and from what I see, their son needs help adjusting. His current acquaintances could definitely use some work. And, you know what I always say. You can never have too many connections. Think of how grateful he'll be to be friends with such a girl like you."

Cindy resisted scoffing. She knew her mother would have hated Jimmy if she knew she wouldn't be the smartest student in school for long because of Jimmy, assuming once more that Jimmy even had to go to school.

She really had to find out more about him...

After some lackluster resistance, she agreed to meet the Neutrons.

.

"Hello Mr. Neutron. Mrs. Neutron. Hello Jimmy. It's a pleasure to meet you all." Cindy used her most diplomatic smile.

Jimmy was a tad perplexed. She was acting as if they had never met before. When he was about to bring up their previous meetings, Cindy saw his confusion and winked at him. A gesture for him to play along.

"Hello, Cindy. It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

As they conversed, they discovered that Jimmy would be attending the same school as Cindy and would be taking much of the same classes as she would.

Hugh and Judy seemed pleased that the young girl across the street was the same age as their son. They seemed particularly pleased that the two had taken a liking to each other. Or at least, they weren't at each others throats.

"Cynthia, why don't you take James upstairs to your room. You two can talk about school. I'm sure you can teach him a thing or two," she said condescendingly. Neither Hugh, Judy, nor Jimmy had let on that Jimmy was in fact a genius.

"Actually, Mrs. Vortex. It's just Jimmy."

Sasha held up her hand, "Please, James. James is a much better name than Jimmy. It evokes a better image of the bearer of the name."

Judy raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't say a word. While she liked the daughter well enough, the mother could use some getting used to.

"Of course, mother. Excuse us, Mr. and Mrs. Neutron." She gestured for Jimmy to follow her. Of course her mother thought nothing of a boy and a girl staying in a room alone. Her mother didn't care much about things so long as they didn't affect the image she had painted of the perfect family. Sasha had once shoved contraceptives into Cindy's hands after Cindy and Nick had been together for three months. Nothing was said except that Cindy knew what to do and not to embarrass the family.

.

"As fun as introductions are, why didn't you want your mom to know that we've already met?"

Cindy shrugged, "Do you really want my mother to know that you're the one behind these bruises?"

"Not one bit. She doesn't seem as forgiving as you... What'd you tell her happened?"

"Just that I was playing a bit too roughly with Humphrey."

"Humphrey?"

"Yeah, my dog."

"Where is he? Can I meet him?"

"He's just resting under my bed."

He gave her a puzzled look.

"It's his favorite place," she explained. Close to her.

"Come here, Humphrey. Come meet Jimmy."

A bulldog stuck its nose out from underneath Cindy's bed. Seeing his master, he happily walked over to her and climbed onto her lap

"Here Humphrey, shake hands."

The dog offered a hand to Jimmy.

"That's a pretty neat trick. Not as good as Goddard of course. But still pretty neat."

That sounded like a challenge to Cindy. "You'll eat your words, Nerdtron. Humphrey, speak."

The dog began to bark as a human would if they were eloquently reciting a poem.

"We can do better." Jimmy spoke into his watch and called Goddard. Goddard showed up outside Cindy's window and landed beside his master. "Goddard, speak."

Goddard produced a speaker from his chest cavity. "Luke. I am your father," he said, complete with the raspy breathing.

Cindy laughed, "That's incredible. Watch this. Roll over, Humphrey."

Humphrey daintily hopped off Cindy's lap and rolled over twice before doing a pirouette.

Jimmy was impressed. He'd never seen a dog do that before. But he still believed he could do better. "Goddard?"

Cindy watched as Goddard flew into the air and commenced to do barrel rolls before hovering back down to the floor.

"Impressive, Neutron. But what about this? Humphrey? Time to play dead."

It was her favorite trick. Cindy thought it was so cute when Humphrey had pretended to die of a broken heart.

Humphrey obeyed Cindy and stood up on his hind legs. He clutched one paw to his heart and spun once. He pretended to collapse from a broken heart and didn't move once he hit the floor.

Jimmy watched this performance, quite amused by the dog's theatrics.

"What's the matter? Not going to try to top that?" Cindy gathered Humphrey back to her lap again.

"Frankly, I don't think you'd want me to."

"What? Why not?"

"Well, the last time I tried to teach Goddard to play dead, he exploded." Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. "Goddard can't seem to grasp the concept of being dead, since. Well. If something of his malfunctions, I could always rebuild him. He'd outlive us all."

Cindy appeared thoughtful at this and a bit saddened. "Lucky you..."

Jimmy realized his mistake. Judging by Humphrey's age, he deduced that he'd reminded her that Humphrey was going to leave her soon. "I'm really sorry, Cindy. I didn't mean anything by it." He was always apologizing to this girl.

"No. No it's okay. I mean, I kinda started it. And, I've known it'd happen for a long time. I just try not to think about it. Don't worry about me, Neutron. I'm a big girl." She smiled to prove it. But her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

Jimmy didn't push further. Instead, he said, "Of course not, _Vortex_. Do you always call people by their last names?"

"Nope. It just seemed better this way though, _Neutron_."

"I see. So I'm special then. I'm flattered."

Cindy smiled, a real one this time, "Don't get an even bigger head."

"Hey! At least I don't have... umm... have... a pink room?"

"Oh, you wound me," she replied dramatically. "Whatever will I do? Seriously, you need to work on your insults."

Jimmy laughed, "Thanks, but I prefer not to insult people in the first place."

"Goody-two-shoes. They're going to eat you alive once school starts." Cindy stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well at least I'll have you to defend me, right?" He stuck his tongue out back at her.

"Sure, Neutron. Can't let a genius be too disillusioned with public schools, can we?" She replied serenely, but she was nervous. She hadn't thought about it before. How would she interact with Jimmy once school started? He didn't know too much about her school life. He only knew her as Cindy the Neighbor. She gulped and nervously petted Humphrey.

"Speaking of school, I'm pleasantly surprised to see you in my classes."

"Surprised, eh? Shove it, Neutron. I'm the smartest girl in school."

"Yeah, that's right. Smartest _girl_. I'll be the smartest boy and person at school."

"Uh-huh. Maybe in the sciences, but I know you left brain nut jobs are sorely lacking in artistic ability. I'll cream you."

"Damn, you found my Achilles' heel. Too bad I won't be taking any art classes."

"Don't we need those to graduate?"

"The school made a few exceptions for me," he casually said.

"Oh really?"

"Yep." He crossed his arms, challenging her to ask why.

She took the bait. "Exactly why would the school care about you?"

"Easy. I'm a genius."

Cindy rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. "Of course. The school's all over you. Why are you even in high school? You could probably breeze through college at this point."

"It's more of a personal thing. As a kid I didn't really get to have a childhood. The other kids made fun of me and bullied me so badly, I had to be home-schooled."

"Neutron... That's terrible. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry, Cindy. I came out of it alright. But my mom and dad thought everybody should at least have a fun high school experience. So here I am."

Cindy was a little shocked to hear how bad he had it as a kid. She wondered how deeply she hurt others as a kid. "Well, it's a good thing you did. I heard geniuses tend to go crazy because they aren't well adjusted. Now I really will have to watch you. Who knows if you'll invent something that could destroy the town?" she teased.

"Funny you should say that," he laughed, "The last town we were in was pretty close to running us out."

"What happened?"

"I'm under contractual obligations not to say anything. It was that bad."

"Neutron, you're a freak," she said playfully.

"From you, I'll take that as a compliment."

.

"See you around, _James_."

"Likewise, _Cynthia_."

Hugh and Judy smiled at the children's exchange. It looks like they didn't have to worry about Jimmy making friends at his new school.

"We apologize for not being able to stay for dinner, Sasha, but the house is still a mess. We really need to get going."

"Don't think anything of it, Judith. Do come by another time, though."

Judy didn't bother correcting her.

Saying their goodbyes, Cindy was left in the foyer with her mother.

"Thank goodness that's over. The mother I could tolerate. The father, however, was an absolute mess. And that son, he's a troublemaker if I ever saw one."

Cindy fought the urge to giggle. Her mother didn't know how much of a troublemaker Jimmy was in his old town. "Are you sure, mother? They seemed really nice to me."

"Of course they did. But that's because you don't know any better." With that her mother left to prepare dinner since her father would be coming home soon.

Cindy thought her mother didn't know any better. Mrs. Neutron was so bright and cheery. A startling contrast to her own mother. Mr. Neutron looked like a really dependable husband and father. His love for his family was quite apparent. And Jimmy. Jimmy was... a nice guy? He was a friend, she thought conclusively. Her new friend that wanted nothing more from her than to be her friend. Thankfully.

But for how long? Jimmy would find out eventually that Cindy the Neighbor wasn't the same as Cindy the High School Girl. Popular as she may be, there were people who thought she was a bitch. She could be short-tempered at times and mean, but she felt she didn't act like a bitch unless someone deserved it. _Like Betty_. She hadn't been indiscriminately mean to everyone since their elementary school days. So what would they know?

Still, she hadn't known Jimmy that long. Perhaps the negative talk about her would turn him off being her friend. He had wanted a normal and fun high school life after all. Could she even offer that when she wasn't sure how she would act around him?

She was only expected to associate with the best. People would question why she was hanging around some nobody.

... But what if he wasn't a nobody?

An idea struck Cindy. She'd make him into a somebody. A somebody that she could be friends with in public once school started.

She'd start by getting him an invitation to the "totally awesome" party she was co-hosting. Only the most popular kids from Retroville and some nearby towns would be invited. If Jimmy showed up, he would definitely be in with the in crowd.

Armed with a plan, Cindy was now determined to make Jimmy popular so she could still be close to him. Forget the talk behind her back, Jimmy would bond with her so much that he wouldn't even start to doubt her.

.

"You and Cindy got along pretty well, right son?"

"Yeah dad, she's nice." Jimmy saw Hugh and Judy exchanged grins over the lasagna his mother made, and added, "Just. Nice."

"Of course, Jimmy. We think so, too." Judy winked.

Jimmy groaned. "Don't you start too, mom. She's a friend. Like Carl and Sheen. You met them today, too."

"Yes, and what lovely _friends_ you have. Perhaps some lovelier than others?" His mother smiled.

With one last bite of lasagna, Jimmy sighed and rolled his eyes. They weren't going to let this go; they were having too much fun. "Thanks for the dinner, mom. I've got a lot of work to do in my lab. Goodnight."

He pushed his chair out and bade his father goodnight as well.

Walking to his lab, he couldn't help but wonder if she was only a friend. Jimmy hadn't exactly had a lot of experience with the female gender, but he knew he felt something for her.

It was crazy. Jimmy shook his head. He'd only just barely met her.

Goddard nuzzled Jimmy's hand to show him his display. **Step 1: Denial.**

.


	5. Chapter 5

**Heroes Wanted**

Chapter 5

.

"I don't think Cindy would appreciate this, Goddard. But I need to know."

Jimmy had been hanging out with Cindy a lot more frequently. Oddly, whenever Jimmy brought up hanging out as a group with Sheen and Carl to either Cindy, Sheen, or Carl, they all blanched and said that they'd be busy. His curiosity got the better of him. They were hiding something from him, and he wanted to know what.

It took one long night for Jimmy to create a small mechanical bug that would allow him to not only eavesdrop on Cindy's phone calls, but also her thoughts.

Goddard replied to his master.

Quickly, before Cindy could come back to her room with snacks, Jimmy implanted the device into her phone.

.

Since forming her plan, Cindy had begun to subtly talk up Jimmy to her other popular friends. She had to get them comfortable with the idea of Jimmy first. Even if it did involve a bit of fibbing about how he was a stud at his previous, not to mention nonexistent, high school.

However, what piqued her friends' interests about Jimmy was that Cindy had mentioned him at all. They believed that if Cindy thought he was cool, he must've been pretty damn impressive.

Deviously, some girls thought that perhaps they could trap this Jimmy Neutron into their own webs in an attempt to one up Cindy. Some boys thought that perhaps they should _inform_ Jimmy that he better not be planning to make a move on Cindy. There was a line starting behind them. Skipping would result in some serious consequences.

.

"Maybe we should invite Jimmy to the party, too."

"Yes!" Cindy exclaimed, holding her hand to cover the mouthpiece to her telephone. Recomposing herself, she asked, "Why? You haven't even met him."

Britney replied, "Yeah, but he sounds pretty cool."

"He is," Cindy said nonchalantly. She didn't want Britney to know that she was happy about this. It'd look too suspicious. "But he's not like Nick or Brad or whatever."

"Yeah, I know. You said he's smart, right?" Britney joked.

"Exactly."

"I still don't see the problem. Come on, Cindy. I want to meet him, too! This'll be the perfect opportunity!"

Cindy pretended to be exasperated. "Oh, alright. Add him to the list."

"You're the best, Cind! You tell him. Bye! Gotta go, grounded for sneaking out last night."

Cindy hung up the phone and rolled her eyes. She wondered why people felt the need to shorten her name like that. Her full name wasn't even that long.

Turning slightly on her bed to look outside her window, she was able to catch a glimpse of Jimmy's room. He wasn't there. Oh well. She got off her bed to begin her breathing exercises.

.

"Why has Cindy been talking about me so much?"

Sheen and Carl had been in the lab with Jimmy listening to Cindy's conversation.

"Maybe she's planning something evil!" Sheen shouted.

"That's impossible. She didn't even want to invite me." That hurt him a bit. He thought they were growing quite close.

"All I know is, anything involving Cindy Vortex can't be good."

"That's what you two have been saying, but you still haven't told me anything about how you know that."

Sheen opened his mouth to say something, but Carl slapped a hand over Sheen's mouth.

Jimmy sighed, "So if I can't get it out of you, I'll get it out of her. Somehow... This plan is not working well."

"Just be careful at that party, Jimmy," Carl warned.

"It's just a party. What could go wrong?"

Sheen and Carl exchanged glances. Carl covered Sheen's face with both hands this time. "It's not our type of party is all..."

Jimmy was puzzled, "No hot dog weenies?"

"Yes, but that's not what we meant. You really don't know much about Cindy, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sheen pulled Carl's hands down, "It means she's an evil witch! The witchiest of them all. There."

"So you've said. If you don't have any evidence, I'd really appreciate it if you stopped talking about her that way. She's a really nice girl once you get to know her."

Keeping Carl's hands down, Sheen decided it was time to tell Jimmy. "Oh, we know her. We know her all too well." He looked around shiftily as Jimmy waited for him to explain himself. "We used to be friends with her, too, Jimmy."

Carl nodded.

"It was a time when Ultralord was entering its best season."

"Sheen..."

"What? I gotta lay down the facts first."

"Carl?"

Carl reluctantly began to tell their tale instead, "Cindy, Sheen, Libby, and I used to be the four amigops in elementary school."

"... amigops?"

"It means friends in Spanish," Carl explained.

"Right...," Jimmy didn't want to delve too deeply into that.

Carl continued, "Cindy was mean to everyone. But we all hung out because Libby and Sheen liked each other. Since Libby liked Sheen and Libby was Cindy's best friend, Cindy had to be nice to us, too. But then Libby moved away in middle school, and Cindy got _really_ mean. She went on a rampage. Nerds were wedgied. Bullies were noogied. Innocent bystanders got punched if they looked at her. No one was safe, Jimmy. No one! Sheen and I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't listen." Carl began to sob hysterically. "It was a bad time for Retroville."

"Carl, that's nothing like the Cindy I know. Are you positive you aren't mixing her up with someone else?"

"Let him finish, Jimmy. You'll see. You'll see..." he eyes darted shiftily again.

"Then during freshman year of high school. She stopped screaming. She stopped getting angry. She hung out with the popular kids. She ignored us even more. She. She... changed. It was even scarier than when she was on her rampage! Who _knows_ what she's thinking now?!" Carl grabbed Jimmy and shook him.

Jimmy thought for a moment. "Assuming this is all true, her past has nothing to do with who she is now. And so far as I can tell, she hasn't done anything to you or Sheen. Why are you still so afraid of her?"

"It's not just us, Jimmy. Other kids are afraid of her too. It's social suicide, or sometimes just plain suicide, to make her mad..."

"What kind of girl do you two think she is?"

"The evil kind!" Sheen interjected.

"Sheen! Jimmy's not going to believe us that way."

"I barely believe you two as it is." Cindy was the most down to earth girl he'd ever met. Though he met few and knew fewer in his lifetime. From what Jimmy could tell, particularly when she played with Humphrey, Cindy was kind, caring, and loving.

"Alright, Jimmy. Don't say we didn't warn you. But if you want proof. Let's get it. Let's ask Betty Quinlan."

Sheen pulled out his cell phone and proceeded to call Betty.

Jimmy could hear this Betty person ask who the heck was calling her on her private line.

"Hey, Betty. I know you don't know me very well. But, uh. It's," Sheen quickly thought of a false name, "Ollie. You remember, Cindy Vortex's friend? Just wanted to know how your party went?"

At the mention of Cindy's name, Jimmy could hear Betty violently scream at Sheen and insult Cindy. Apparently Betty hadn't gotten over her ruined party. Holding the phone away from his ear, Sheen looked at Jimmy triumphantly.

"That, that's just one person. Who clearly needs help."

"Really? Let's try April this time."

Sheen dialed another number. "Hey, April. You remember when you wore the same shirt as Cindy Vortex to a party last year?" Instead of screams like Jimmy expected, the girl on the other end of the line could be heard bawling loudly.

"What did Cindy do to her?"

"No one knows... And no one ever blames Cindy. Out loud."

Jimmy was startled to find that he was beginning to believe Carl and Sheen's story. Perhaps he didn't know Cindy as well as he thought he did. But he had to wonder why Cindy was acting so nice to him.

"Alright, guys. I admit that's fairly adequate proof for something against Cindy. But, I've actually seen Cindy. She acts nothing like a person who could do that. We're friends."

"Have you ever thought about why Cindy's been so nice to you even though she doesn't know you?"

"We're neighbors."

They shook their heads.

"She admires my intelligence."

They shook their heads again.

"She enjoys my company."

Stares.

"She... likes Goddard?" Wait... Goddard. "You guys don't think she's still mad about Goddard hurting her, do you?"

They nodded.

.

After Carl and Sheen left, wishing him luck, Jimmy reviewed Goddard's recordings of his meetings with Cindy. He still wanted to believe that Cindy was a great girl. Smart, funny, interesting. And if he was completely honest with himself, he thought Cindy was incredibly attractive.

He thought he needed more facts.

"We need to find the most we can about her, Goddard. Onward with the plan. Did she make or receive any calls while I was gone?"

.


	6. Chapter 6

**Heroes Wanted**

Chapter 6

.

Jimmy had been avoiding her the past few days. He cited being preoccupied with lab problems.

Cindy pulled herself up off her bedroom floor and marched over to Jimmy's house. It was her chance to get him back on her side.

.

It was probably wiser to check who was knocking at his door first rather than just blindly opening it.

There was Cindy Vortex on his doorstep looking slightly irritated.

"So about that favor you owe me."

Jimmy gulped. "Hey, Cindy. I'm kinda busy right now."

Cindy cut him off. "Yeah, I'm sure you are. But. This is more important. As you may or may not know. There's a party that my friend and I are throwing. And I want you to come. And I'm calling on the favor you owe me, so you can't say no. See you there!" She beamed mischievously, daring him to go back on his word, before turning around to head back to her house.

"Wait. Cindy! Maybe we can work something out. I'm really sorry!" His cries fell on deaf ears. He was really in for it now. Cindy really wanted him at that party now. And he felt his fate was sealed if he went.

.

Cindy hadn't expected him to follow her. She rather preferred that he just be dumbfounded and obey her commands.

But follow her he did. Jimmy grabbed Cindy's arm when Cindy still refused to stop and listen to him.

He inhaled deeply. "Look, Cindy. I know what this is all about."

Meekly, she replied, "You do?" He couldn't possibly have found out about her plans already, could he?

"Yeah. And I'm really sorry."

She was slightly confused now. "About what?"

"Sheen and Carl told me everything..."

"About..."

Jimmy sighed exasperatedly. "You don't have to play dumb!"

Cindy forced Jimmy's grip off her arm and crossed both arms across her chest protectively. "I'm not playing dumb, Nerdtron! What's going on here?"

"You tell me! You're planning something to hurt me. I know it, and you know it. And it's all because my dog ran into you a couple of times. What kind of psychopath does that?" She looked at him as if he had lost it.

She was shocked. Eyes watering, she refused to let them fall. "What? Why would you think that? I told you I forgave you when it happened."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well. It makes sense. Why else would you hang out with me when you've got _better _friends?"

She could laugh. Better? Hardly. "I guess Sheen and Carl did tell you _everything_ then. Well let me tell you _something_, Jimmy. I hung out with you because I had fun. I felt like I could really be myself around you. Not my _better_ friends. You. But this is ridiculous. Didn't someone say that actions speak louder than words?"

.

She continued to try to salvage the friendship between them. And Jimmy almost felt bad for the time he spent suspecting her and wanted to apologize. However, it made too much sense for him to ignore. A girl like her befriending a boy like him was improbable at best. No matter how sincere she seemed, he let his insecurity get the best of him. Sheen had warned him that she was a terrific actor after all. Remembering that, her manipulative ways served only to anger him. He wanted nothing to do with her.

So he let her speak, but he closed his mind off to her and left.

Back in his lab, he vented to Goddard. The nerve of Cindy. Lying straight to his face. She really was as cruel as Sheen made her out to be.

She pleaded with him to understand. What was there to understand?

She was setting a trap for him, and he'd be a fool to fall for it.

He snapped a laser pen in frustration. He was angry at her for making him like her. And now angry at Sheen and Carl for ruining the illusion.

"How dare she make me like her?" He groaned. He didn't want to admit that he liked her, but he did.

Once again Goddard nudged Jimmy's hand to tell him to look at his display. **Step 2: Anger.**

"Don't you think I know that, Goddard?" He didn't bother inquiring what Goddard meant by including the "Step #". It'd only frustrate him more. Goddard refused to tell him the last time.

He retired to his bed. His mind was swirling and the thoughts were too much for his head.

.

Cindy released a warrior's cry and aimed a kick at her practice dummy's head. She loved using the private rooms at the dojo where she worked to work out her negative energy.

The idiot didn't even believe her. She didn't even do anything to him, but he still believed the other two idiots over her. It must be some guy thing to always trust guys more than girls.

She. _kick_. Practically. _punch_. Begged. _punch. _Him. _punch_. To believe her. _kic__k to the dummy's groin area._

She's too tired to move now. She had been doing this for hours.

Well. She didn't need a friend anyway. She didn't need a hero.

She was her own hero. And she'd resolve to take back her life even if it meant being alone.

She sighed.

.

**Oh Jimmy. Are you mad at Cindy? Or yourself, you big dummy?**

**Just to clarify. They're all soon to be seniors in high school. So that would make all the main characters around seventeen or eighteen except for Sheen who is around nineteen or twenty.**

**Now is when the updates get even slower... :D  
**


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